National Emergency Coordination Group meets as traffic and transport disruption continues

National Emergency Coordination Group meets as traffic and transport disruption continues

• From: Department of the Taoiseach

• Published on: 11 April 2026
• Last updated on: 11 April 2026

The National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) met again today (Saturday, 11 April) as blockades continue to impact the transport network, fuel distribution and vital services. The NECG brings together all relevant Government Departments and state agencies to coordinate the response to emergencies.

The public and businesses are continuing to experience major disruption, and the blockades are posing a serious threat to fuel supply chains and to the provision of essential services, including emergency response services and public transport. The NECG is coordinating on an ongoing basis to mitigate disruption and to ensure the continuity of vital services.

In order to ease local fuel supply issues, the public is urged to only buy the fuel they need. The public is also warned that storing fuel at home or in unsafe locations presents significant safety risks.

Storage capacity at some Irish ports is now becoming a concern and there will be limited ability to offload further containers in some ports shortly. Shipping companies are monitoring the ongoing impact of this on their operations. The Department of Climate, Energy, and the Environment (DCEE) continues to engage closely with the fuel sector. The Department of Transport is working closely with ports around the country and the wider maritime sector to optimise storage capacity.

An Garda Síochána has engaged extensively with those taking part in fuel protests across the country to facilitate peaceful protest while protecting public safety. An Garda Síochána has moved to an enforcement phase in relation to those impacting on critical infrastructure unless they desist and disperse from these blockades. An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces are working collaboratively in this regard.

The NECG heard concerns that workers, including essential workers, may not have sufficient access to fuel to drive to and from their places of work, jeopardising the provision of critical services, health services, as well as business operations.

Supply chain disruption

In relation to supply chains, there are emerging regional challenges affecting deliveries, primarily due to constrained distributor access to fuel and delays moving goods to and from logistics hubs, rather than stock shortages.

Critical supply chains, including pharmaceuticals and time-sensitive products, are particularly reliant on uninterrupted access to fuel, ports and a mobile workforce in order to maintain 24-hour operations and reach market.

While key operators in logistics and supply chains have on-site fuel buffers and are actively managing capacity, ongoing transport disruption is already affecting the timeliness of certain deliveries and increasing operational pressures across the supply chain.

Emergency services

Blockades, along with significant congestion and continued obstruction across the wider road network, are severely limiting the distribution of fuel and are impeding efforts to ensure that adequate supplies reach emergency services.

Arrangements are in place to ensure that principal response agencies such as the National Ambulance Service and the Fire Service can access fuel as required. This is being co-ordinated by those response agencies, the fuel industry and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. In some areas there are service stations dedicated to dispensing fuel to emergency services only.

This work falls under the remit of the NECG sub-group which is coordinating contingency measures to address the fuel supply issues facing emergency services. This group continues to meet and monitor the situation.

Fire services across Ireland have had to put in place contingencies to manage the restricted availability of fuel. Non-essential activities (for example, training activities) have ceased and responses to non-life threatening call-outs are now restricted.

Efforts continue to ensure that fuel can be accessed by the National Ambulance Service (NAS). NAS is working with relevant stakeholders to ensure ambulances can continue to be re-fuelled from any available stock, particularly overnight.

Due to the ongoing restrictions in supply to retail outlets arising from various blockades and traffic obstruction, the sustainability of fuel supplies for emergency vehicles continues to be a matter of growing concern as does the ability of staff to report for duty. If the current situation continues, the risk of service curtailment will become more likely.

Health services

The HSE is assuring patients that all services are continuing and operational. Unless patients hear from the HSE they can assume their appointment is going ahead. However, there are continued concerns that there could be significant impact on the delivery of healthcare within days unless there is a change in current circumstances.

The HSE is advising people who missed appointments due to the disruption to contact the relevant service that they had their appointment for, and they will be facilitated with getting another appointment quickly.

There is significant concern for vulnerable people who rely on care in the home, where care workers or usual 'Meals on Wheels' services may have been unable to reach them this weekend due to fuel shortages. People are encouraged to check in on vulnerable neighbours in their communities to make sure they have the necessary supplies for the coming days.

The Department of Health is closely monitoring the impact of the blockades on the supply of medicines. The Department is working closely with the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and other stakeholders to continuously assess the effect on medicine supplies and mitigate the impact of any potential delays.

In the case of medicines used most often in Ireland, there are typically multiple forms, strengths, brands, and generic medicines available from a range of sources. In the event that there are some supply issues for individual medicines, it is expected that alternative options such as alternative strengths, brands and generic medicines will be available to ensure continuity of treatment. If a patient has any concerns about their medicine, they are encouraged to speak with their pharmacist or GP.

The requirement for blood donations continues and the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is urging the public to continue supporting their local blood donation clinics by making a much-needed donation, it may save a life. If you have made an appointment to donate blood, please attend if possible. Details of clinics are available at https://www.giveblood.ie

Agri-food impacts

The agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry sectors continue to be negatively impacted by the ongoing blockades. The disruption to supplies of animal feed and fertiliser remains a significant issue and threatens the welfare of animals, with some mills carrying just three days stock at any given time. There is an increasing threat to the feasibility of milk collections from farms due to disruption of fuel supplies.

The continued blockage of exports of agri-food produce poses a threat to export trade in a sector reliant on exporting 90% of its production. Separately, sawmills are also encountering challenges and the processing in some mills have ceased production due to a lack of materials.

Public transport and travel

Prolonged journey times are placing a strain on all of the travelling public, as well as those who drive for work.

The Minister for Transport has approved a temporary derogation from certain driving hours and rest period requirements for drivers involved in the transport of liquid fuel used for home heating oil or as a propellant within Ireland. This will enable reasonable flexibility for drivers and businesses to keep supply chains moving while also balancing driver welfare and road safety objectives.

Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth, has confirmed that school transport services are intended to resume on Monday, 13 April, after the Easter holiday period. Bus Éireann is liaising with contractors through local school transport offices to ensure that any disruption to school transport services is limited and localised. Parents are advised that if blockades continue to impact on road access in some parts of the country and challenges continue with fuel distribution, there are likely to be delays and potential service disruption experienced to some services. Bus Éireann will endeavour to advise families of any disruption to services as soon as such information is made available.

The public are advised to plan their journey before travelling and allow extra travel time. The National Transport Authority has a dedicated web page for information on service disruptions. The public can also check https://traffic.tii.ie/ for general traffic alerts. Those using public transport should check with their operators in case of diversions or disruptions.

The NECG will meet on an ongoing basis to continue to monitor the situation and will provide regular updates to Government.